Apparatus for mixing concrete conglomerates



W. M. PRATHER. APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE CONGLOMERATES.

APPLI CAIION FILED NOV. II, I918. 1,331,576. Patented Feb. 24,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A x "Q E A "'i?)\ W.. M. PRATHER. APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE CONGLOMERATES.

Patented Feb. 24,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- APPLICAHON FILED NOV. H, 1918.

W. M. PRATHER. APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE CONGLOMERATES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-11.1918- Patented Feb. 24,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 3.

WILLIS M. FEATHER, OF KANSAS CITY. MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE CON GLOMERATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

Application filed November 11, 1918. Serial No. 262,004.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WILLIS M. PRATHER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Kansas City, in the countyof Jackson and State of Missouri, have inented a certain new and Improved Apparatus for Mixing Concrete Conglomerates; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the different levels during the swirls of the material.

Third: To afl'ord means for the application of forced agitations and torsional dis tributions of the conglomerates.

The invention consists in the novel apparatus and constructive parts, as fully here inafter described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1. is a View, in perspective, of the apparatus for agitating and mixing the concrete, the rear end portion of the mixing receptacle or box being removed, to show the sluice andgate, and the inclined sections of the bottom diverted toward the sluice, and the novel material-agitating and mixing devices.-

Fig. 2. is a plan view of the apparatus, as seen in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3. is a view of the apparatus from the bottom, the apparatus being in an inverted position.

Fig. 4. is a vertical, sectional view of the apparatus, taken upon the line 2, 2, in Fig. 2, the material agitators being. removed.

Fig. 5. is a view of one of the hollow, conical posts, looking from the base inwardly, showing the shaft-bearing and se cu ring lugs.

' Fig. 6. is a vertical, sectional view, talren through the lower portion of the conlcal part and upon line 5, 5, in 5.

Fig. 7. is a plan View, in detail, of the train of gear wheels, and rotary wheel-supporting and main driving shaft.

Fig. 8. is a detail, broken view of the bottom plate and base beams at one end of the receptacle, showing the inclined end mold boards.

Similar numerals of' reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The receptacle in which the mixing of the conglomerate materials is effected in my invention consists of a rectangular shaped box, as seen in the drawing, to which reference is made. The receptacle is preferably made from metal, and consists of the side plates 12, 12, which incline downwardly and inwardly, in a slight degree, and the end plates or members 14, 14, which incline downwardly and inwardly in the same degree, and which are hermetically COIIIIHQCtQCl at their respective ends with each ot er.

Upon the upper portions of the side memthe inclined portions or plates15, 15, ex-

tending from the respective lower portions of the side members or plates 12, 12, and from the lower portion of the end member 14, to the lower portion of the end plate or member 14, and are inclined inwardly and downwardly, from said side. plates 12, 12, to a line parallel with and intermediate said plates. thereby forming a depression or valley longitudinallv of the bottom. Upon this line and extending from the' end plate 14 is an opening 15. which is formed by cutting away inner portions of the plates 15. 15. in parallel lines extending about onethird the distance inward v toward the end 14, at which point the sides of the opening tap r to a point at 15*.

Beneath said opening 15, and secured to the said bottom members or plates 15, 15, is a sluice box or gutter 16. which extends outwardly a considerable distance from the line of the lower portion of. the end plate 14.

in size than the said receptacle, and composed of the verticalside beams 18, 18 and end beams 18, 18*.

With the upper surfaces of the respective beams 18, 18 and 18*, 18 are connected the .innerportions of a rectangular frame 19,

composed of side plates 19, 19, and end plates 19*, 19*. The outer portions of these plates extend outwardly to a position in line withthe respective side members 12, 12,

' and end members 14, 14, of said receptacle,

and are inclined upwardly corresponding to "the inclination of the bottom plates 15, 15.

The outer portions of the plates 19, 19', 19

19*,are bent at right angles and' extended upwardly a short distance to form spaces 19, 19, between said plates 19, 19, and 19",, 19*, and the bottom members 15, 15, of the receptacle, and thence bent at right angles at 20, 20, and extended inwardly beneath said plates, to form flanges, which flanges areconnected with the bottom plates by the rivets 21.

The upper surfaces of the end beams 18 18 are inclined downwardly and inwardly from their ends to an intermediate point between said ends, to provide for a corresponding deflection in the end plates 19 19*, as seen in detail in Fig. 8.

The system ofmaterial agitation in my invention consists in forming a series of eddies or hirlpools of the liquid material within the receptacle or box 10, whose tendency is to move toward the sluice 16, and

which whirlpools are in diverse rotation and are broken up at the entrance to the sluice, hence violent agitation of the liquid or plastic material is obtained at this point, while the heavy particles, whose tendency is to. adhere to any surface, is always upward toward the surface of the liquid, facilitated when the substances are in an oleaginous compound.

'The eddies of the materialare formed about a number of hollow cone-shaped, stationary bodies or columns 22, 23, 24 and 25,

which are of uniform size, and a centrallylocated cone-shaped body 26, of lesser size in circumference. The bases of these larger bodies are outwardly-extended or flaring at 22'.

Upon thebase portions of the coneshaped bodies 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 are inwardly-extended lugs 22*. The said bodies are preferably made from metal, cast or stamped out. In the outer surface of said cone-shaped bodies are grooves 27, extending from the base of each body, and thence upwardly and spirally to the upper end of said body, in a gradualdegree, the grooves extending two-thirds the distance around the outside of the cone-shaped body, the

sides of the respective grooves gradually decreasing in width, the said sides forming benches for the deposit of the heavy material. The upper portionofeach body or column is flat at 28, and through said portion extends a shaft opening 29, extending around which shafts are bearings 30, these bearings beingafforded by an increase in the thickness of the inner portlons of the coneshaped bodies 22, 23, 24 and 25, at their upper ends.

The smaller coneshaped body 26 is mounted upon the bottom plates of the receptacle 10, above the opening 26, in said plates, and in the valley formed by the plates 15, 15 ata point equi-distant from the respective side plates or members 12 and e 12 and the end members 14, 14,the axial 'lineof the shaft opening 29, in said coneshaped body being at the point of intersection of the lines 2, 2, and 3, 3 (see Fig. 2),-

extending diagonally to the receptacle 10, the base of the said cone-shaped body being secured fixedly to said parts of the bottom "by the rivets 22, which pass through the lugs 22*, as seen in Fig. 6. Thus arranged, the cone-shaped body is slightly distant from the inner, tapering portion of sluice .16, while its .upper end is below a line extending horizontally through the upper portions of the side members or plates 12, 12, of the receptacle,

The cone-shaped, inclined body 22 is fixedly secured to the bottom plate 15, and

upon the portion bounded by the end plate 14 and the side plate 12, the inneriportion of the base of said body beinglocated a j short distance from said plate 12, and relatively close in position to the base of the cone-shaped central ,body- 26, and a short distance from the inner portion of sluice 16, 1

its shaft opening 29 being upon the same line 22, passing through the opening 29, in the cone-shaped body 26;

The inclined cone-shaped body 24 is mounted uponthe bottom plate 15, and

upon the portion of said plate bounded by the side plate 12and end plate-14, its base being located the same distance from the base of the central body 26as that of the body 22, and its shaft opening upon the same line 2, 2, extending through the shaft opening 29, in the central body 26.

The cone-shaped body 22 is located upon the portion ofthe bottom plate 15 bounded by the side member 12, and end member 14,

'of said receptacle, the. inner portion of its base being located in position adjacent the portion of the base of the body 26, a greater magma distance than that relatively between the bodies 22 26, thus afiording a wider space between the base of the body 23 and said base of body 26, its shaft opening 29 being outwardlyfrom the line 3, 3, extending through the shaft opening 29, in the body 26, the said line passing inwardly and at a tangent thereto,

The cone-shaped body 25 is mounted upon the inclined portion 15, of the bottom of the receptacle, the portion of said bottom being bounded by the side plate 12 and end plate 14, the inner portion of its base being correspondingly distant from the base of the body 26, as that of the base of body 23 from the body 26, the shaft opening 29, in said body, being inwardly in respect to the line 3, 3, in Fig. 2, said line passing tangentially thereto, hence the spaces between the outer portions of the bases of the bodies and 24, and their relative material-diverting triangular plates '17, at the corners of the receptacle, are of greater width than between the outer portions of the bases of the bodies 23 and 25, and the plates 17 adjacent thereto. Within the receptacle 10, and connected rigidly with the respective side members or plates 12, 12 are the materialdiverting' plates 31, which are arranged in position intermediate the end plates 14, 14, each plate being compose'd'of oppositely-positioned downwardly and inwardly-inclined portions 31, 31*, arranged in the direction of the spaces between the respective cone-shapedbodies 22 and 23, adjacent the side member 12, and the space between the cone-shaped bodies 24 and 25, thelower portions of said plates 31, 3'1 being curved in arcs of circles. V

WVith the base beams 18 and 18, and in termediate the side'beams 18, 18 is connected the ends of a supporting stud or beam 32, in the upper portion of which beam and intermediate the ends of said beam is a shaft opening 33, extendingpart way through said beam in the bottom of which opening is a double, convex anti-friction bearing block 34, upon which block is mounted the lower end of a rotary powertransmitting shaft- 35, the upper end of which shaft extends; upwardly through the adjacent inner portions of the bottom plates 15, 15, upwardly within the cone-shaped body 26. and within the shaft opening 29, in said body, and a portion 36 reduced in circumference and extended a short distance upwardly from the line of the flat surface 28, and squared upon its sides, as seen in Fig. 4.

Upon the lower portion of the rotary shaft 35, and immediately above the beam 32, is splined the bevel gear wheel 37, the gear teeth inclining downwardly and inwardly. Directly above the bevel gear wheel 37, and splined on shaft 35, is a gear wheel 38, which is slightly smaller in circumference than the bevel wheel 37, and the teeth Slightly beveled.

Upon the inner side of the side member 18*, of the base frame 18, a short distance from the end beam 18*, is secured rigidly a shaft-supporting lug or block 39, having its outer portion curved in the arc of a circle. The upper surface of the block 39 is upon a line with the inclined surface of the side member 19, of the frame 19-, supported by the base frame 18, in which block is a shaft. opening 40, extending part way downwardly through said block, and in said opening is a bearing 41, which is the same as the bearing 34, for shaft 35, said shaft opening being located in the direction of the side member 18*, of the frame 18', from a line 4, 4, passing diagonally through the frame 18, the said line extending at a tangent to the said'opening 40. In said opening 40 is extended the lower end of a rotary power-transmitting shaft 42, the upper end,

of which shaft extends upwardly through the shaft bearing 30, in the cone-shaped member 22, a squared portion 43, which is reduced in circumference, extending upwardly a short distance from the line of the flat surface 28, of the upper end of said cone-shaped body.

I Vith the side member 18', of said frame 18, a short distance inwardly from the end member 18, is a shaft supporting block or lug 44, the shaft opening 45 being located in said lug toward the side beam 18, from the line 4, 4, passing diagonally through the frame 18, the said line extending tangentially to said shaft opening.

In said opening 45 is journaled the lower end of a rotary power-transmitting shaft 46, the upper end of which shaft extends within the cone-shaped member 24, and upon its upper end is a squared portion 47, extending outwardly from the said coneshaped body.

Within the other cone-shaped bodies 23 and 25 are power-transmitting rotary shafts 48 and 49, respectively, the lower ends of which shafts are journaled in the respective lugs or blocks 50 and 51, respectively, secured to the inner side portions of the respective end members 18 and 18*, of frame 18, the lug 50 being close, in position to the inner side of the side member 18*, and the lug 18 close in position to the side member 18', of frame 18, the said shaft opening being located in said lugs upon the line 4*, 4, extending diagonally to the frame 18, and passing through the shaft opening 33, in the beam 32, in which is mounted the rotary shaft 35. The upper end portions of the shafts 48 and 49 are provided with squared ends, in like manner as the ends to shafts 42 and 46'. v 7

Upon the rotary shaft 42 is splined a large gear wheel 52, theteeth of which gear are in mesh with the small gear wheel 38, on the rotary shaft 35. This gear wheel, as. seen, extends within the space 19, beneath the bottom plate 15, and is inclined in the same degree as the side plate 19, of. frame 19, above which said Wheel rotates. Upon the rotary shaft 46 is a gear wheel .53, the teeth of which are in gear with the small gear which extends through and is journaled in the side beams 18, of the base frame 18, at a point intermediate the end' beams 18, 18*. With the inner end of said rotary shaft is connected fixedly a sleeve 57, upon which sleeve is mounted a small bevel gear wheel 58, the teeth of which engage with the bevel gear 'wheel 37, actuating the rotary transmitting: shaft 35, in the cone-shaped body 26. V r

The material agitating and swirl duoers consist of the plows 60' (see Fig. 9), which move in a; circular path, adjacent the bases 22, of each cone-shaped body or column, these plows being shown upon the respective shafts, in pairs, in the drawings,

their faces being positioned in said paths to travel in the path of rotation above, so

that a plow upon one rotary shaft may follow immediately behind, for a short -d1stance, the plows in" motion around adjacent cone-shaped bodies. The shanks 62, of each plow, extend upwardly in inwardly-curved lines and tLClJEtCQIll? the outer grooved surfaces of the cone-shaped bodies, and at their -upper end portions 63, of the separate shanks are bent at right angles and extended short distances past the squared portions of the upper ends of such rotary shaft, and secured to said ends by'the clampingbolts 64, which passthroughsaid portions of'the shanks upon opposite sides of said squared portions of the shafts; lVit-h the rear portions of eachplow is connected a mold board .61, extending upwardly and upon one side of a cone-shaped body. r 1

In the sluice 16 is a gate 65, which provents the outward movement of the material member 14 to the upper portion of the end member 14;, the meshes being large, to perpromit the passage of the material. This screen prevents any liability of the person operating themachine from coming into contact with the revolving plows.

In operation power from the shaft 56 is communicated to the vertical rotary shaft 35, through the bevel gear wheels 55 and 37, and motion is transmitted through the gear wheel 38, on said shaft, direct to thegear wheels 52 and 53, which rotate in opposite directions to each other. In said movement the gear wheel 52 transmits motion in a re verse direction to the gear wheel 54:, which is then traveling in the opposite direction to the gear wheel53, and this latter wheel communicates reverse motion to the gear wheel 55. V

The materials to be mixed are dumped through screen 66, into the receptacle 10, in the proper proportions, and the liquid supplied to moisten and liquefy the mass, and as soon as the proper materials are in solution, the rapidly moving plows 60 and mold boards, 61, commence the mixing process, which consists in the movement of the liquid mass in swirls around the coneshaped bodies, the plows being, as beforestated, located on theseveral rotary shafts, to pass each other in their diverse rotary movements. The liquid mass at the bottoin'of receptacle 10 is changing position constantly, and moving in the depression or valley formed by said downwardly inclined bottom plates 15, 15 hence the revolution of the plows 60 impart an upward tendency to the liquid ma terial, and the mold boards are forming vortexes in their movement, one mold board on i one plow on one of said rotary shafts, which is inclined or curved inwardly, forcing the liquid material into thegrooves 27, in the cone-shaped body, and the other mold board on the other plow on the same shaft moving said material away from said .eoneshaped body.

The rotary movement'of the plows and the mold boards around the larger cone shaped bodies 22, 23, 24 and 25, carry the liquidinaterial past the inclined plates 1'7 and30, in a circuitous path, in swirls, and toward the central cone-shaped body 26, the plows '60 and mold boards 61, on said body 26, moving around said body at a greater speed than the mold boards and plows on the rotary shafts, meet the currents in succession, and break up the eddies, and" a violent agitation of the intercepted eddies fects a complete admixture of the component parts ormaterials, and at the same time the particles adhering to the larger cone-shaped bodies, are removed by the mold boards, and are subject to disintegration by the. solution;

The inclination of the coneshaped bodies 2 within the receptacle, while mounted upon inclined planes, s of two-fold advantage,

one being from the force of gravitation of the material toward the valley, and the consequent interruption of this force, and also the capability of the coarse materials to move along the spiral grooves of the cone shaped bodies, toward the surface of the solution, and in which repeated movements of the coarse particles their disintegration is effected in the most effective manner. 7

The invention enables a mixture of different ingredients to be made, under tests thoroughly, and within definite periods of time, when the gate may be opened, and the mixed materials discharged from the receptacle. The efficiency of the apparatus adapts it for use in mixing materials of various kinds, and is especially aeapted for the mixing of concrete for road building and wall construction, and with such modifications employed as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I now claim as new and desire to se cure by Letters Patent is-- 1. A concrete mixer comprising a casing provided with conical projections seated on the bottom thereof, said projections having spiral grooves on the outer surfaces, and mixer means seated on said conical projections and adapted to be rotated around the same. i

2. A concrete mixer comprising. a casing provided with conical projections seated on the bottom thereof, said projections having spiral grooves on the outer surfaces, and separate material mixing devices seated on each of said conical projections and adapted to be rotated around the same, one acting to force the liquid into the grooves and the other acting to move the material away from said conical projections.

3. In an apparatus for mixing concrete materials, the combination with the receptacle for the materials, of one or more conical bodies within said receptacle and hav ing spiral material gathering grooves therein, rotary shafts extending through said bodies, plows movable in a circular path around said bodies, and plow supports connected therewith, said shafts and mold boards being carried by said plows, the mold boards on each body being deflected in out Ward and inward positions, respectively.

4. An apparatus for mixing concrete material, comprising a receptacle for the mate rial, and a sluice leading out of the receptacle, stationary cone-shaped bodies upon the bottom of the receptacle and disposed in position upon diagonal lines intersecting with each other, and also upon lines tangential thereto, a stationary body at the intersection of said lines, rotary shafts extending through said bodies, plows movable in a circular path around each body, supports for said plows connected with the said shafts, gear wheels upon said shafts, one meshing with another, and means for communicating power to said gear wheels.

5. An apparatus for mixing concrete ma terials, comprising a receptacle for the material, and a sluice leading out of the receptacle, stationary conical bodies upon the bottom of the receptacle having spiral grooves leading from the base to the apex of each body and lisposed in position upon diagonal lines intersecting with each other, and also tangentially thereto, a central body at the intersection of said lines,rotary shafts extending through each body, and plows movable in a circular path around each body, supports for said plows connected with said shafts, and reversing gear mechanism connected with said shafts.

6. An apparatus for mixing concrete materials, comprising a receptacle for the ma terial, having a bottom thereto with downwardly and inwardly-inclined parts, a sluice leading therefrom out of the receptacle, a series of stationary material-diverting bodies upon the said inclined parts of the bottom member of the receptacle, rotary shafts extending upwardly through said stationary bodies, and material-agitating devices upon said shaft, and means for transmitting motion to said shaft.

7 An apparatus for mixing concrete materials, comprising a receptacle for the material having a bottom thereto with downwardly and inwardly-inclined bottom members, stationary material-deflecting bodies upon said inclined bottom members, rotary shafts extending through said members, material-agitating devices upon said shafts, a power-driven shaft, and gear mechanism actuated by said shaft transmitting motion to said rotary shafts upon said stationary bodies.

8. An apparatus for mixing concrete material, comprising a receptacle for the material, having a bottom thereto, with downwardly and inwardly-inclined bottom members, a sluice leading therefrom, stationary material-deflecting bodies upon said inclined bottom members, and a centrally located body adjacent said sluice, rotary shafts extending through said material-deflecting bodies, and material-agitating devices on said shafts, and means for trans mitting motion to said shafts at variable degrees of speed.

WVILLIS M. FEATHER.

lVitnesses:

MARGUERITE BROWDER, ROBERT O. MOLIN. 

